Ohio State Buckeyes WR coach Cortez Hankton looks to have the deepest corps in the country based on how the team's room is performing this spring. That's Cleveland.com's Stephen Means' take on the situation, anyway.
Means believes Hakton has six starter-level receivers -- Jeremiah Smith, Brandon Inniss, Kyle Parker, Devin McCuin, and freshmen Chris Henry Jr. and spring practice breakout Brock Boyd -- at his disposal this fall.
" Cortez Hankton might legitimately have six wide receivers he can throw out there by the time Sept. 5 gets here. Smith and Brandon Inniss — who caught a couple of touchdown passes — are the returning veterans. Kyle Parker and Devin McCuin — who lost his black stripe Saturday — are the transfer portal additions who bring a unique skillset the room lacked last season. Boyd is busy making every recruiting service look crazy for how low he was ranked, and the potential of Chris Henry Jr. was every bit on display. It’s been a long time since the Buckeyes have rotated at wide receiver, but it’s very easy to wrap your mind around that happening in 2026," Means wrote.
Of course, that's not even accounting for another freshman, Jerquaden Guilford, who some feel is just as prone to a potential breakout during his debut in Columbus as Henry. Boyd's emergence has quieted some of Guilford's hype, but the actual games could rewrite all of these narratives.
Cortez Hankton making early statement in Brian Hartline's stead
If there's going to be power in numbers under Hankton, the name Brian Hartline could be forgotten soon enough in central Ohio. The NIL/rev-share machine and the Buckeyes brand will do the heavy lifting on the recruiting trail.
These early returns, amid wider praise about how Arthur Smith's offense has looked with the former Atlanta Falcons head coach fully taking the reins from Means, are a massive sign that Ohio State could be somehow improved from last year.
The Buckeyes will go as far as Arthur Smith's proverbial Derrick Henry, Jeremiah Smith, takes them. It doesn't appear he'll have to do anything close to carrying the offense with so many talented teammates lining up with him.